Same result Yesterday, we posted some video reflections on the California 2003 gubernatorial recall election. In the end, the condition of the state budget seemed to determine voter opinion. But, of course, the UC budget went for a ride on the state budget. Below is a link to more video clips from this episode in state politics.[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkE11Egb_7Q?feature=player_detailpage]
It’s all yours, Arnold. We are getting to the 10th anniversary of the recall of Gov. Gray Davis and his replacement by Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the events that followed was a UC “compact” with the new governor that was worthless; as soon as the state had budgetary problems, the compact disappeared. A key problem was that the governor doesn’t appropriate funds; the legislature does. Nonetheless, there were photo ops: Compact buddies For nostalgia buffs, here is a video history of the recall in three parts:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt7O-yyzFJs?feature=player_detailpage] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUZZQ11u6w?feature=player_detailpage] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6eSlO46FnA?feature=player_detailpage] Finally, the comic side from Harry Shearer:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WR6T3JG6R8?feature=player_detailpage]
Summary: The afternoon session began with a presentation by the new president of the UC Students Assn. He described a program to find jobs for graduate students whose careers are currently limited by the loose labor market. He described a program focused on prisons vs. UC, the details of which were not clear. He favored an oil severance tax and also divestment from fossil fuels. (Some listeners might find those causes somewhat in conflict; depends on how you look at them.) Much of the afternoon was then spent on budgetary issues. Charts were shown indicating the volatility in tuition…
If you are state budget aficionado, you may recall that last June there was a disagreement between Governor Brown and the legislative leaders as to whether to use a conservative forecast for 2013-14 state revenue. The governor pushed for, and ultimately won, the use of more conservative forecast revenue than the LAO and the legislative leaders wanted to use. We are now two months into the fiscal year and according to the state controller, actual revenue received was below the governor’s estimate by something over $300 million. In addition, the state is looking at some unexpected spending for such things…
It may be more than you wanted to know, but a draft chapter for California Policy Options 2014 on the California state budget (with some references to UC) is available at: http://www.employmentpolicy.org/topic/402/research/californias-sleep-well-state-budget-draft-8-31-2013 [Click on pdf to download.]
The state controller’s statement for July, the first month of the 2013-14 fiscal year, reports that revenues were roughly $300 million below estimates in the state budget. Most of that gap was due to personal income tax net receipts. As blog readers will know, there is a lot of volatility and uncertainty involved in income tax receipts. A windfall came in around New Years which may have had to do with people taking capital gains or otherwise advancing income into the prior tax year trying to anticipate “fiscal cliff” developments. So it may be that there will be less income…
When you listen to Regents’ comments at their meetings on the state budget, you have the impression at times that they think that the state and governor have reversed course and now acknowledge responsibility for the UC pension plan. So, for the record, here is the Legislative Analyst’s summary of the latest state budget and the UC pension: Contains Intent Language Regarding UC Retirement Costs. The budget plan does not designate any funding for UC employer retirement costs, though the university expects these costs to increase by $67 million in 2013-14. Budget trailer bill language states, however, that the absence of…
University of California Regents: July 17, 2013 – morning session Agenda: Wednesday, July 17 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (open session – includes public comment session)9:30 am Board (open session)9:40 am Committee on Finance (open session)12:00 Lunch(Note: Appointment of the student regent was moved from the 9:30 am session to after the Committee on Finance due to airplane delays that affected some regents.) Highlights: Outgoing UC President Yudof delivered observations that could be considered advice to the incoming president. He included a skeptical off-hand remark on the MOOC industry, noted that UCOP bureaucracy will tend to grow unless checked,…
You might as well reconcile yourself because you won’t find a reconciliation from any official source between the governor’s accrual budget (released in late June) and the state controller’s cash budget (released today). In theory, there are advantages to accrual accounting over cash accounting in judging performance, whether of a state budget or a corporation. Accidents of timing of receipts and expenditures can distort the results for any given period. For example, there really is no difference in a check arriving on June 30 or July 1. But if you are on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year and look…
From the Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog: Jerry Brown says UC, CSU leaders pledged to pursue online ed ‘vigorously’ Gov. Jerry Brown said today that he vetoed his own budget proposal to earmark $20 million for online education at the University of California and California State University systems only after leaders of those institutions assured him they would pursue online course offerings on their own.“I had an agreement from both the segments that they would carry out online vigorously,” Brown told reporters at an event in Sacramento. “As the leader of both governing boards, I’m actively engaged with both the…
